Rodan?

Dusty Baker is a man of many interests and seems to know pop culture over multiple generations. I fancy myself knowledgable of pop culture but Baker got me on Sunday after I asked him what made Burton tough against hitters.

“Burton is very athletic and has great deception,” Baker said. “You watch when he spreads out. He throws that glove at you and looks like Rodan.”

My response (that wasn’t in the story) was “who?” Baker said “forget it” but after a few seconds, I realized it had something to do with Godzilla, or movies of that ilk. I had to look up Rodan in Google to write the story so I could accurately support the reference. It’s one of the things that makes this job fun — you never know what you’re going to hear.

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4 Comments

And now his nickname will forever be known as Rodan. :P

Excellent piece, Mr. Sheldon. I read it as soon as I got home from school. Burton has always been one of my favorites. I feel he’s somewhat underrated as well. He never seems to get much national attention (A Reds player not getting national attention? How shocking!) but he is soooo tough on hitters. I’m glad he’s healthy. I’m looking for him and the rest of the bullpen to step it up a notch and be even better than last year. And let’s face it, they were pretty darn good last year.

I know Dusty Baker has taken a real liking to Sarasota in just two springs and stays near the water. As for the players, I’ve gotten the sense they’re a little ambivalent. Most of them stay within 10 minutes of the complex. Outside of dinner or movies, they don’t spend excessive time on the beach, out on the town etc., since many are at the ballpark by 7:30am or earlier.

Everyone is looking forward to Arizona from the aspect of a much nicer facility to work at and shorter travel to road games.

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